‘No Longer on the IT Project List’: How Avnet Uses Tag Management to Increase Marketing Agility

Editor’s Note: The following is an interview with Jason Paulsen, global analytics manager at Avnet (NYSE: AVT), one of the largest distributors of electronic components. Jason got his first taste of analytics with eBay in 2004. He used Omniture data to help eBay’s power sellers increase their conversions rates. He then began working for Omniture directly in 2005. He left Omniture in 2009 to work for an independent consulting agency. He joined Avnet in 2011 and is in charge of the global analytics program for Avnet’s e-commerce business group.

1. Tell us a little bit about Avnet and your role at the company.

Avnet is the world’s largest distributor of electronic components. Basically, we provide all the components that make up most electronic gadgets – from micro-processors to power supplies to connectors – that go into everything from smartphones to fighter jets. I manage the analytics globally for the e-commerce team.2. When did you first hear about tag management?

I heard about tag management at Omniture’s Summit in 2011.

3. How many digital marketing vendor tags do you manage via Tealium?

We manage five unique vendor tags, but we have more than 30 accounts from one vendor that have to be managed individually within Tealium.

4. Who is your web analytics vendor(s)?

We currently use Omniture. I know I’m supposed to say Adobe, but I’m old school.

5. In what ways has tag management benefited you?

While I don’t have specific ROI numbers I can share, I can tell you that we have saved significant IT resources both from a cost perspective, and more importantly, from a “usage” perspective. With Tealium, I no longer have to take a spot in the IT project list. This means my team members can have their projects worked on sooner, which drives their business more quickly.

6. You told us a great anecdote recently about how you made some key web analytics changes during a meeting. Can you repeat that here?

We were in the middle of a site redesign. There were some interesting discussions regarding how many of our users view our site in different languages. We had not been tracking that value. So, in the middle of the meeting, I opened my laptop, logged into Tealium, created a new variable and started sending language usage data into Omniture. By the end of the meeting, I had some initial data to share with the team. This will help us determine what languages we should focus on supporting in our redesign.

7. What has your experience with Tealium been like?

My experience has been awesome so far. The support has been tremendous. I haven’t been able to come up with an issue that Tealium couldn’t handle.

8. What’s your next big web analytics project?

My next big project is the integration of our online data into our CRM systems. I’m hoping Tealium can play a role in that as well.

Erik is a technology marketing executive and the head of content marketing at Tealium. Before joining Tealium in 2012, Erik held senior level positions at Microsoft, WebSideStory (now part of Adobe Systems), InboundWriter, and VoxOx. Erik started his career as a business reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune.